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Fri Jan 05, 2007 10:15 pm  |
I have always been terrified of spiders and when I moved from the UK to Sydney I was in constant fear of a huntsmen spiders running over me when I was driving.
The pivitol moment came when I was at school and went to open the boot to get out my books. it felt a bit odd and then our from under the boot handle crawled a large huntsman. I screamed very loudly and swore - luckily no one else was at work.
Anyway, I decided that I needed to do something. I heard on the radio about Taronga Zoo offering a course for curing spider phobias.
It worked extremely well:
Warning - there is a big spider in my hand in this photo so don't open if you're scared.
http://img165.imageshack.us/my.php?image=emma6ir3.jpg
She is a Chilean Rose Spider in my hand. 
Anyway, onto my eyeball bit.
I have always been a bit freaky about eyeballs. The bit in King Lear when Gloucester's eyes are gouged out always makes me feel ill.
I had thought about contacts.
I was walking past an optomotrists today and decided to pop in.
I was amazed that after about half an hour (she was very patient with me) I managed to get them in.
I walked around in them and quite liekd them.
Then, came the taking out part.
I just couldn't do it. She had to do it for me.
Shows I'm a true EDS member as when I was putting them in I was thinking this pulling at my eyes isn't good for my skin.
Anyway, I conquered the spiders but the eyeballs beat me.
I'm not too sad as at least I had a go.
Has anyone else conquered a fear that they'd like to share?
Emma x |
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Fri Jan 05, 2007 10:30 pm |
Wow Emma, I envy you! Spiders just paralyze me--- I don't think I can ever get over it. However, eyeballs are fine with me. Keep trying with the contacts, I think you'll really come to like using them!
The fear I overcame is needles. OK, so I still hate them and HATE getting shots, but the sight of needles used to make my hysterical. Then my bunny boy Forest got sick and needed daily injections. For a while DH took care of it for me while I held Forest and closed my eyes, but then he had to go away for business and I was on my own, so I had no choice but to tough it out and do it myself, and now I'm much less scared of needles.^-^ |
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27, sensitive/reactive/acne prone skin, dark brown hair, blue eyes, possibly the palest woman alive... |
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Fri Jan 05, 2007 10:35 pm |
Good for you!! Spiders don't bug me. Now Moths?  Hubby always knows when I've spotted 1 in the house - there's a scream & a slam (me locking myself away from the hideous thing) then screaming to kill it, kill it!! I refuse to come out until he pushes the dead carcass under the door as proof. I don't mean the little 1's I'm talking the big fat hairy ones that dive bomb you repeatedly! ::::shudder:::: Now I've creeped myself out.
If anyone knows of a cure, let me know, lol.
Don't give up just yet on the contacts. It takes patience and practice. I wore them for many years, til I had Lasik surgery. Though I never could adjust to the hard type. |
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Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too. ~ Voltaire www.Candessence.com |
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Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:15 pm |
Good for you Emma! You're a brave woman -- it made me shiver just looking at the picture.  |
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Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:19 pm |
| I broke into a sweat just looking at the picture. Thank god I have a husband around who understands my spider phobia. |
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Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:43 pm |
Candy8865, I have the perfect solution if you're scared of those big honking moths: nose plugs and a beekeeper's headpiece. That's only partially a joke; what you really need is a damned good flyswatter.
I've been terrified of the larger moths for as long as I can remember. I was gang-mothed once as a child when I went up to our unlit attic one night with a flashlight. There must have been a million of them up there, all frantically swarming around the flashlight, and determined to jam themselves into my eyes, ears and YES up my nose! (That's why I recommend the nose plugs.) Since then, whenever one of those flying nightmares gets into my house, I track it with my eyes and slowly edge toward my flyswatter. I wait until my heart stops pounding so my aim will be more true and use that time to cover my head with a T-shirt or sumthin' else of a protective nature, 'cause I don't have the beekeeper's head gear yet. By this time, my intended victim will have settled nicely and, creeping up on him, I raise my swatter and . . . BANG! (Yeah, I also do a fair bit of wall washing, by necessity.)
It makes me furious that I'm so afraid of them but I just can't get over that remembered sensation of moths almost suffocating me.
Don't even get me started on wolf spiders or bats.  |
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Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:52 pm |
Just glad I'm not the only one. Spider phobias people seem to understand, moths - they look at you like you're nuts.
| pinky1 wrote: |
Candy8865, I have the perfect solution if you're scared of those big honking moths: nose plugs and a beekeeper's headpiece. That's only partially a joke; what you really need is a damned good flyswatter.
I've been terrified of the larger moths for as long as I can remember. I was gang-mothed once as a child when I went up to our unlit attic one night with a flashlight. There must have been a million of them up there, all frantically swarming around the flashlight, and determined to jam themselves into my eyes, ears and YES up my nose! (That's why I recommend the nose plugs.) Since then, whenever one of those flying nightmares gets into my house, I track it with my eyes and slowly edge toward my flyswatter. I wait until my heart stops pounding so my aim will be more true and use that time to cover my head with a T-shirt or sumthin' else of a protective nature, 'cause I don't have the beekeeper's head gear yet. By this time, my intended victim will have settled nicely and, creeping up on him, I raise my swatter and . . . BANG! (Yeah, I also do a fair bit of wall washing, by necessity.)
It makes me furious that I'm so afraid of them but I just can't get over that remembered sensation of moths almost suffocating me.
Don't even get me started on wolf spiders or bats. |
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Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too. ~ Voltaire www.Candessence.com |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 12:32 am |
| For anyone scared of something I strongly recommend hypnotherapy. That was part of the course and it worked wonders. |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 2:40 am |
Crane flies!! Don't know if everyone would know what they are. Those flying daddy long legs. I go mental about those things. Fortunately they're only around for a short period, a few weeks around September time. Doesn't matter how much I try to avoid them, they fly right at you.
I think it comes from when I used to live in a flat, the foyer area had slatted glass in the entrance and then a fire door a few feet further on, they would be attracted by the light, fly through and there would be hundreds of them (or so it seemed) in that area, all flying around. Shudder! |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 2:41 am |
| I'm not brilliant with spiders either, so Emma, wow! Well done! Wish I could do that! |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 3:57 am |
| pinky1 wrote: |
Candy8865, I have the perfect solution if you're scared of those big honking moths: nose plugs and a beekeeper's headpiece. That's only partially a joke; what you really need is a damned good flyswatter.
I've been terrified of the larger moths for as long as I can remember. I was gang-mothed once as a child when I went up to our unlit attic one night with a flashlight. There must have been a million of them up there, all frantically swarming around the flashlight, and determined to jam themselves into my eyes, ears and YES up my nose! (That's why I recommend the nose plugs.) Since then, whenever one of those flying nightmares gets into my house, I track it with my eyes and slowly edge toward my flyswatter. I wait until my heart stops pounding so my aim will be more true and use that time to cover my head with a T-shirt or sumthin' else of a protective nature, 'cause I don't have the beekeeper's head gear yet. By this time, my intended victim will have settled nicely and, creeping up on him, I raise my swatter and . . . BANG! (Yeah, I also do a fair bit of wall washing, by necessity.)
It makes me furious that I'm so afraid of them but I just can't get over that remembered sensation of moths almost suffocating me.
Don't even get me started on wolf spiders or bats. |
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  Pinky, you are so danged funny! I love the way you write and you have such a sense of humor!
However, the moth story sounds like something out of a horror movie! I don't blame you for being phobic ... that'd scar me for life, too! |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:43 am |
| Candy8865 wrote: |
Good for you!! Spiders don't bug me. Now Moths? Hubby always knows when I've spotted 1 in the house - there's a scream & a slam (me locking myself away from the hideous thing) then screaming to kill it, kill it!! I refuse to come out until he pushes the dead carcass under the door as proof. I don't mean the little 1's I'm talking the big fat hairy ones that dive bomb you repeatedly! ::::shudder:::: Now I've creeped myself out.
If anyone knows of a cure, let me know, lol.
Don't give up just yet on the contacts. It takes patience and practice. I wore them for many years, til I had Lasik surgery. Though I never could adjust to the hard type. |
ME TOO!!!!! I think it might have to do with the drunken-looking unpredictable way that they move!! I FREAK!!!!! I also have to add grasshoppers to the mix - they freak me out entirely!!!
Pudoodles |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:47 am |
| pinky1 wrote: |
Candy8865, I have the perfect solution if you're scared of those big honking moths: nose plugs and a beekeeper's headpiece. That's only partially a joke; what you really need is a damned good flyswatter.
I've been terrified of the larger moths for as long as I can remember. I was gang-mothed once as a child when I went up to our unlit attic one night with a flashlight. There must have been a million of them up there, all frantically swarming around the flashlight, and determined to jam themselves into my eyes, ears and YES up my nose! (That's why I recommend the nose plugs.) Since then, whenever one of those flying nightmares gets into my house, I track it with my eyes and slowly edge toward my flyswatter. I wait until my heart stops pounding so my aim will be more true and use that time to cover my head with a T-shirt or sumthin' else of a protective nature, 'cause I don't have the beekeeper's head gear yet. By this time, my intended victim will have settled nicely and, creeping up on him, I raise my swatter and . . . BANG! (Yeah, I also do a fair bit of wall washing, by necessity.)
It makes me furious that I'm so afraid of them but I just can't get over that remembered sensation of moths almost suffocating me.
Don't even get me started on wolf spiders or bats. |
OMG PINKY!! You expressed that TOO WELL!! Emma: good for you for overcoming your spider phobia! You'll conquer the contact lens issue soon enough!
Pudoodles |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:53 am |
| Candy8865 wrote: |
Just glad I'm not the only one. Spider phobias people seem to understand, moths - they look at you like you're nuts.
| pinky1 wrote: |
Candy8865, I have the perfect solution if you're scared of those big honking moths: nose plugs and a beekeeper's headpiece. That's only partially a joke; what you really need is a damned good flyswatter.
I've been terrified of the larger moths for as long as I can remember. I was gang-mothed once as a child when I went up to our unlit attic one night with a flashlight. There must have been a million of them up there, all frantically swarming around the flashlight, and determined to jam themselves into my eyes, ears and YES up my nose! (That's why I recommend the nose plugs.) Since then, whenever one of those flying nightmares gets into my house, I track it with my eyes and slowly edge toward my flyswatter. I wait until my heart stops pounding so my aim will be more true and use that time to cover my head with a T-shirt or sumthin' else of a protective nature, 'cause I don't have the beekeeper's head gear yet. By this time, my intended victim will have settled nicely and, creeping up on him, I raise my swatter and . . . BANG! (Yeah, I also do a fair bit of wall washing, by necessity.)
It makes me furious that I'm so afraid of them but I just can't get over that remembered sensation of moths almost suffocating me.
Don't even get me started on wolf spiders or bats. |
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OMG! gang-mothed?! That's the funniest thing I've heard in ages!!
I'm not a big fan of any of the creepy crawlers, but I have to say scorpions really creep me out! We found one on my sister's porch 2 summers ago in Kelowna and the women just freaked. Lots of screaming, running and swearing. Of course the men had to take care of it, while we huddled in the house. ICK! Although you wouldn't catch me holding a spider like Emma's any time soon! |
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51 years old/brunette/normal- oily medium skin. |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 12:08 pm |
[/quote]
OMG! gang-mothed?! That's the funniest thing I've heard in ages!!
I'm not a big fan of any of the creepy crawlers, but I have to say scorpions really creep me out! We found one on my sister's porch 2 summers ago in Kelowna and the women just freaked. Lots of screaming, running and swearing. Of course the men had to take care of it, while we huddled in the house. ICK! Although you wouldn't catch me holding a spider like Emma's any time soon! [/quote]
A SCORPION?! In KELOWNA?! I flipped when I read that but then Mr. Pudoodles said that technically, Kelowna was a desert! He said that there are rattlesnakes there, too!! I would never have thought that there were rattlesnakes and scorpions in Kelowna!! You are in Kelowna, British Columbia, right?
I'm still flabbergasted!
Pudoodles |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 12:29 pm |
OMG! gang-mothed?! That's the funniest thing I've heard in ages!!
I'm not a big fan of any of the creepy crawlers, but I have to say scorpions really creep me out! We found one on my sister's porch 2 summers ago in Kelowna and the women just freaked. Lots of screaming, running and swearing. Of course the men had to take care of it, while we huddled in the house. ICK! Although you wouldn't catch me holding a spider like Emma's any time soon! [/quote]
A SCORPION?! In KELOWNA?! I flipped when I read that but then Mr. Pudoodles said that technically, Kelowna was a desert! He said that there are rattlesnakes there, too!! I would never have thought that there were rattlesnakes and scorpions in Kelowna!! You are in Kelowna, British Columbia, right?
I'm still flabbergasted!
Pudoodles [/quote]
No, I'm in Alberta thank God, too cold here in the winter for those creepy crawlers! Kelowna also has black widow spiders (lots of them), and my sister found one under her desk at the office one morning. She threw her shoe at it and missed, and now they don't know where it is, so everyone has to check their desk areas every AM for it! Eeeeeek! |
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51 years old/brunette/normal- oily medium skin. |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 2:32 pm |
For some reason, when we lived in our previous house, (which was a ranch style) we used to get crickets in the house and it freaked me out to no end! The house would be quiet and we'd be asleep....then the chirping would start and I would sit bold upright in bed, get up and follow the chirp sound which of course would stop (the clever buggers) when I'd get closer to it. I'd wake my husband up and he would just yell at me and tell me I was bigger than them, etc.,etc.....One night I KNEW one was in our bedroom and I was a mess, so I woke him up again and made him look around the room until he found it, and sure enough (and this is HORRIBLE) it had been sitting in our spread which had fallen on the floor as my husband's legs are long - all of a sudden it jumped out of there and I screamed "there it is, there it is" so he's trying to catch the bloody thing and of course he's aggravated and he says to me "What the hell are you so afraid of? Jiminy was a cricket and he didn't bother anyone!" Admittedly, that got me laughing - and he did catch him in his hands and put him outside. Then the cricket went and told two or three of his friends the story, because no word of a lie, there were two of them in my house the next night....THANK GOD we moved...I did not disclose the cricket problem to our housebuyers. I dunno why we got them the way we did - maybe the house was built on an ancient cricket burial ground or something?
Maria  |
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Maria, early 50's, post meno, normal to dry skin, more dry in winter, some sun damage... |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 2:44 pm |
| Candy8865 wrote: |
Good for you!! Spiders don't bug me. Now Moths? Hubby always knows when I've spotted 1 in the house - there's a scream & a slam (me locking myself away from the hideous thing) then screaming to kill it, kill it!! I refuse to come out until he pushes the dead carcass under the door as proof. I don't mean the little 1's I'm talking the big fat hairy ones that dive bomb you repeatedly! ::::shudder:::: Now I've creeped myself out.
If anyone knows of a cure, let me know, lol.
Don't give up just yet on the contacts. It takes patience and practice. I wore them for many years, til I had Lasik surgery. Though I never could adjust to the hard type. |
And here I thought if I were ever stuck in a dark alley facing a pissed off Katee, I'd pray you were with me, geez, now I need a new game plan!!! Moths can't bite. Candy Candy Candy!!! |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 6:26 pm |
Wow Emma! I admire you. I don't know how you did it! I can't imagine ever being able to get rid of my aracnophobia. I don't dare open your pic as I would probably have a panic attack or something. I have to say though that after having to live on my own for a while I've gotten better at "taking care" of them. (patting myself on the back).
My mom is also very freaked out by moths. Those along with snakes and mice. She can barely look at a mouse.
When I was a kid we moved into a new house and started remodeling it. Well, during the remodelling process we had more bug activity than usual. Anyway, we would get these HUGE spiders ---shudder--- that would dash across the floor at night. I swear you could hear their legs tic-tacking across the hardwood floors! I am surprised I didn't hear them growl either . Needless to say I would scream and my dad or brother would have to come take care of it. When nobody was around I would throw a bucket over it. I never slept well while we lived in that house. Luckily we ended up moving soon thereafter (for reasons other than spiders).
I think many phobias of bugs and animals etc are developed as a result of an experience in one's youth. Growing up with older brothers didn't help me any! |
_________________
early-mid 30s || oily-combination, sensitive & acne-prone skin || mild breakouts (Aczone helps a lot) || occasional eczema rashes || fine lines around eyes || very dark under eye cirlces- concealer a must || very fair neutral-warm complexion, blue eyes, blonde hair |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 7:10 pm |
| Mariav wrote: |
| For some reason, when we lived in our previous house, (which was a ranch style) we used to get crickets in the house and it freaked me out to no end! The house would be quiet and we'd be asleep....then the chirping would start and I would sit bold upright in bed, get up and follow the chirp sound which of course would stop (the clever buggers) when I'd get closer to it. I'd wake my husband up and he would just yell at me and tell me I was bigger than them, etc.,etc..... ... "What the hell are you so afraid of? Jiminy was a cricket and he didn't bother anyone!" |
We used to get crickets in the house I grew up in, but they usually stayed in the garage. We had one that lived there for YEARS ... my Mom called him "Jiminy" and believed he was good luck ... I know some cultures think crickets are good luck charms, but I didn't know one of those cultures were Italian!
| Mariav wrote: |
... he did catch him in his hands and put him outside. Then the cricket went and told two or three of his friends the story, because no word of a lie, there were two of them in my house the next night....THANK GOD we moved...I did not disclose the cricket problem to our housebuyers. I dunno why we got them the way we did - maybe the house was built on an ancient cricket burial ground or something?
Maria |
"Ancient cricket burial ground" - OMG that's funny!
When we moved into the house I grew up in, it was a new development and in fact the entire area used to be "wilderness" (as much as you can get in So. California!) - we'd get coyotes, possums, snakes are all other kinds of varmints that would come out of the hills into our neighborhood (the housing construction destroyed their habitat so the poor things were displaced). I've always had a spider phobia (though I am better now living on my own; I have to kill them myself, and kill them I do, because if they are in my house and NOT paying rent, they get to die!) because I was bitten by a black widow when I was a child and had to go to the hospital, etc.
One time my Mom went out shopping and my Pa was gone somewhere, so she had one of our friends' older sisters come in to stay with us while she was gone. When Mom came home, we were all standing around talking when Jennifer's eye caught something moving and she started screaming her head off - it was a freakin' TARANTULA behind our sofa! I am not kidding, this thing was the size of a saucer. We don't know if tarantulas were indigenous to the area and were disturbed by the construction, or if someone's pet got loose and into our house. Jen, my sister and I jumped onto the dining room table and just screamed like we were being killed! My Mom (being a Leo mother - always protecting her "cubs") got a broom and beat the thing to death - she was so fearless and I was duly impressed! (My Mom's the type that would take on Jack the Ripper single-handedly and with no weapons if she thought he was trying to harm one of her kids!) The creepiest part was when it died, its legs sort of curled up under it - reminded me of the witch in the "Wizard of Oz" when the house falls on her - creeped me out to this very day!
However, unlike Emma, I have no problems at all with eyeballs, and can touch mine and anyone else's actually, with no trouble at all. Spiders still give me the creeps though, and after seeing the picture of Emma with that thing on her hand, I'm surprised I'm not still running down the street! |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:35 pm |
Thank you for sharing your stories too.
I am going to have another go at contacts.
If I can hold a tarantula then I can get out a contact lens.
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:41 pm |
I'm the designated spider-killer in my house because DH is terrified of spiders. They don't bother me at all (sometimes I rescue them), although I am careful about black widows because we have a lot of them. I'm pretty much okay with all bugs too.
Snakes on the other hand.... I literally start hyperventilating when I see them. I can't even look at them of television. They're so HORRIBLE slithering around with those undulating movements and their nasty evil eyes!!! I'm really trying to deal with this, as you can tell. 
Last time we were in AZ, a HUGE rattlesnake was lying across the road in the desert. I started screaming and made DH roll up the windows. It struck at the jeep, and I swear it would've come through the window if it had still been open. He agreed with me at the time, but of course, now he laughs at me and says I'm crazy. |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:46 pm |
HEY!! Send me into a dark, abandoned building after a crazed gun man, no problem - I gotcha. I may take the moths over a pissed off Katee in an alley though.... 
| MelissaMarie wrote: |
| Candy8865 wrote: |
Good for you!! Spiders don't bug me. Now Moths? Hubby always knows when I've spotted 1 in the house - there's a scream & a slam (me locking myself away from the hideous thing) then screaming to kill it, kill it!! I refuse to come out until he pushes the dead carcass under the door as proof. I don't mean the little 1's I'm talking the big fat hairy ones that dive bomb you repeatedly! ::::shudder:::: Now I've creeped myself out.
If anyone knows of a cure, let me know, lol.
Don't give up just yet on the contacts. It takes patience and practice. I wore them for many years, til I had Lasik surgery. Though I never could adjust to the hard type. |
And here I thought if I were ever stuck in a dark alley facing a pissed off Katee, I'd pray you were with me, geez, now I need a new game plan!!! Moths can't bite. Candy Candy Candy!!! |
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Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too. ~ Voltaire www.Candessence.com |
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:55 pm |
Tosca - in Australia they say not to run over snakes as they can then get into the car.
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Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:56 pm |
| Does anyone who uses contacts feel that it is damaging to the delicate skin under your eyes (pulling it down when inserting). |
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